Danao City mayor told: Reinstate 39 employees

CEBU, Philippines - The Civil Service Commission-7 has denied the motion for reconsideration of Danao City Mayor Ramon Durano III and upheld the reinstatement of 39 City Hall employees and the payment of their back wages and leave.

In an omnibus resolution promulgated last February 23, the CSC said Durano’s opposition to the immediate execution of its earlier order “lack(s)…merit.”

“Accordingly, Mayor Ramon D. Durano III is hereby directed to immediately restore Barby M. Simbajon and thirty-eight other employees of the City Government of Danao, Cebu to their former positions with payment of backwages and entitlement to leave credits for the entire period of their illegal dismissal,” the CSC said.  

Watchman Ronald Capul, one of the terminated employees, said he did not expect CSC-7 to issue an order in their favor but added that he was overjoyed when he received a copy of the resolution.

“Nalipay sab oy; akong bata usahay di ka-eskwela tungod kay walay kwarta kay daghan ko’g anak. Hangyo ko ana nga naa na man gyud nay desisyon nga makabalik mi’g trabaho,” he said.

When Durano assumed as mayor in 2013, he ordered that 39 employees, including Capul, be terminated from their work.

“Three years na ko nga regular gikan sa 2010 paglingkod sa iyang maguwang regular na ko.  Pag-assume niya sa 2013 gi-isyohan mi niya’g memorandum nga gi-revoke among pagka-regular,” he said.   

After he was fired, he still reported for work believing that the termination was illegal but his name was no longer included in the database of the city government’s biometric system.

“Di na mi pasudlon…kay ang sa biometric gitangtang na man among ngan mao tong ni-file mi’g kaso sa Civil Service (Commission),” Capul said.

Last August 14, CSC issued an order reinstating the employees. Durano then filed a motion for reconsideration but it was denied for lack of merit on October 28.

CSC-7 ordered Durano to pay the back wages and leave credits of the dismissed employees, excluding payment of Productivity Incentive Bonus, Amelioration Assistance, clothing allowance, and step increment.

After receiving their copy of the decision, Simbajon and the 38 other employees filed last January 15 a motion for their immediate reinstatement to work, which Durano opposed because he allegedly was not provided a copy of the decision.

The CSC, however, found out that the mayor’s office indeed received a copy of the resolution, specifically on November 19, 2014 through a certain Elena Gonzales, as reflected in the records of the Danao Postal Office.

The CSC-7 said that “15 days after receipt of the resolution on October 28, 2014, the order has become final and executory absent any appeal.”

Capul hoped that he could go back to work and be paid his back wages immediately.

He said that when he was terminated he had to make both ends meet for the family by doing odd jobs, including being a heavy equipment operator.

He was hopeful that after they are reinstated to their work their lives would be better and brighter since their tenure would be secure again.  (FREEMAN)